Brokerages Set Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) PT at $165.63

Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $163.63.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter worth $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $124.40 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $133.52 and its 200 day moving average is $144.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses.